Los Angeles – U.S.-based journalists and media workers at Le Monde, the largest national newspaper in France, are going on a one-day unfair labor practice strike this weekend. The work stoppage follows an initial one-day strike on September 7. Every worker voted in favor of striking again, following many months of unsuccessful bargaining with the outlet’s management.
Le Monde’s Los Angeles-based subsidiary SEM USA Corp. has engaged in several unfair practices while bargaining a first contract with employees unionized with the Media Guild of the West, a local of The NewsGuild-CWA. The company has set arbitrary bargaining deadlines and requested to reopen agreements that had been previously agreed upon. The Guild filed an unfair labor practice charge on November 2 after management had failed to propose a new bargaining session for nearly two months.
Workers handle a portion of editorial work and contribute to the production of La Matinale, the newspaper’s morning news app and overnight updates for Le Monde’s French and English websites. They also produce content for Réveil Courrier, the morning app from Courrier International, which is distributed from Los Angeles.
The office employs five staff members on French contracts and nearly twenty journalists on U.S. contracts. The latter, organized as Le Monde Union, are protesting significant disparities in treatment between the two groups, despite the fact that they all work in the same office and perform similar roles. Notably, employees on French contracts receive twice as much vacation time as their U.S. counterparts and housing allowances, among other benefits.
“It’s incredibly frustrating to do essentially the same work, in the same office, for the same company, while receiving fewer benefits simply because we are on U.S. contracts,” a member of the bargaining committee said. “We see our colleagues taking time off and enjoying benefits that are unavailable to us, even though we work side by side. We’re proud of the work we do for Le Monde, but we should not have to accept second-class working conditions.”
Employees under American contracts are paid below the California market rate for experienced journalists, particularly when compared to major publications like the Los Angeles Times. After months of negotiations, management proposed a 4% raise, a woefully inadequate offer given that cumulative inflation in the U.S. has surged by over 25% since 2020 and that compensation has not kept pace with the rising cost of living. Several underpaid workers had already left Le Monde before bargaining even began.
Le Monde Union renews its call on Le Monde’s management to negotiate in good faith and to take its proposals seriously, particularly regarding wages and the differences in treatment between French and local contracts.
Media contact: Le Monde Union – lemondeunion@gmail.com